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HORNET FLIGHT
by Ken Follett
New American Library, December 2003
518 pages
$7.99
ISBN: 0451210743


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Having been a fan of Mr Follett's work for more years than I care to reckon, I picked up HORNET FLIGHT hoping it would match the quality of JACKDAWS. While the story was interesting, pulling back the veil on a part of World War II history I'd not explored before, the writing left me cold and, yes, angry.

Cardboard characters, improbable plot threads, expository sections about mechanical details that did nothing to advance the narrative, far more 'telling rather than showing' than I'd ever expect from such an experienced novelist and, worst of all, predictable fates for the key players. Nothing happened that wasn't telegraphed well before the event. Boy sees secret Nazi gadget while sneaking home (where an abusive father waits) and goes on to find the girl of his dreams and be a hero. Right.

All that said, reading it would have been a pleasant and non-taxing way to spend an hour or so waiting for a doctor's appointment, an airplane to show up or while keeping one eye on a grandkid. The sentence structure, transition techniques and dialogue were e-a-s-y-t-o-f-o-l-l-o-w and Not Challenging. You just let your gaze drift down the page, top to bottom, and you knew what was going on. Actually, you could skip several pages and, like a soap opera, not really miss anything. The book cost me something like six dollars an hour, given how long it took to read and the lack of effort therein.

The worst part is that I'm sure were I to gripe about character and plot to the writer himself, I'd be told "but it really happened that way." I was warned: instead of a dedication page, we got "some of what follows really happened," a cop-out far too many writers of historical war thrillers fall back on. Maybe it did really happen. But I still wouldn't be happy believing it. Don't waste your money or time on this one.

Reviewed by Sharon Brondos, January 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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